Niobe
By childrens births, and death, I am becomeSo dry, that I am now mine owne sad tombe.
Out of a fired ship, which, by no wayBut drowning, could be rescued from the flame,Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they cameNeere the foes ships, did by their shot decay;So all were lost, which in the ship were found,They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd.
Vnder an undermin'd, and shot-bruis'd wallA too-bold Captaine perish'd by the fall,Whose brave misfortune, happiest men envi'd,That had a towne for tombe, his bones to hide.
I am unable, yonder begger cries,To stand, or move; if he say true, hee lies.
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Niobe is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of John Donne, Volume 1 (of 2) Edited from the Old Editions and Numerous Manuscripts, Project Gutenberg ebook #48688; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Donne, Niobe, in Poems (1633), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #48688, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/donne-poems/niobe.html, id L04913.
Form and metre
Niobe is 14 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 ABBACC wayA · flameB · cameB · decayA · foundC · drown'dC
- 3 AABB wallA · fallA · envi'dB · hideB
- 4 AA criesA · liesA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| By childrens births, and death, I am become | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| So dry, that I am now mine owne sad tombe. | 10 | ·········· |
| Out of a fired ship, which, by no way | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But drowning, could be rescued from the flame, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Neere the foes ships, did by their shot decay; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| So all were lost, which in the ship were found, | 10 | ·········· |
| They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd. | 12 | ····/······· |
| Vnder an undermin'd, and shot-bruis'd wall | 9 | ···˘/···· |
| A too-bold Captaine perish'd by the fall, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Whose brave misfortune, happiest men envi'd, | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| That had a towne for tombe, his bones to hide. | 10 | ·········· |
| I am unable, yonder begger cries, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| To stand, or move; if he say true, hee lies. | 10 | ·········· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.